Punching and feeding device



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Sept. 26, 1944. B. MEITNER n 2,359,140

I l PUNCHING AND 'FEEDING DEVICE Filed Feb. 3, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l m m una A mmm-m am mail? M 625.2%

T g my Patented Sept. 26, 1944 2,359,140 PUNcHmGAND FEEDING-DEVICE Bela Meitner, Whitchurch, Glamorgan, England, Y assignor to Aero Zipp Fasteners Limited,

London, England, a British company Application February 3, 19143, Serial N0. 474,512 In Great Britain July 10, 1942 Claims.

The present invention relates to apparatus for feeding and punching strips of metal or plastic material, particularly for use in the manufacture of sliding clasp fasteners.

It is an object of the invention to provide an inexpensive and practical apparatus of the above described type by means of which a. row of connected embryo fastener members is made by suitably punching a strip of material, which strip may subsequently be bent lengthwise so as to assume a U-shape when viewed endwise and to form a row of fastener members which may be bodily attached to a tape, the Vmembers being afterwards separated from one another on the tape, for example by means of the apparatus described in the specification of my Patent No. 2,301,064, granted "November 3, 1942 (Serial No. 394,416, filed May 21, 1941).

It is another object of my invention to pro- Vide an apparatus by means of which the strip is punched at equal distances so as to assure that the connected members of the finished row are as exactly equidistant from one another as possible.

It is a. further object of my invention to Aprovide a feeding device for advancing the strip of material in a step by step manner by equal distances and for thus feeding the strip intermittently to the punch proper of the apparatus.

Other objects and advantages of the'invention will become apparent from the sub-joined detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, which are given by example only, and in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the two feeding and holding devices of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3 is a side View of a detail of'Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 shows a punched strip of plastic material.

Fig. 5 shows the strip after being bent.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified feeding arrangement.

Fig. 7 is a plan View similar to that of Fig. 2, but showing the other of the two feeding and holding devices.

Referring rst to Figs. 4 and 5 a strip 43 of plastic material, after being punched has equidistant punch holes 46 (see Fig. 4). The contour of each punched hole has a, curved part forming a'projection 45 arranged substantially in the longitudinal centre line 44 of the strip.

The strip is subsequently bent along the line 44 as shown in Fig. 5, thus forming a row of connected fastener members 4l, each having a coupling projection formed by the projection 45.

` ,The apparatus for feeding and punching the strip 43 (see Figs. l, 2 and 3) comprises a driving pulley i, jcurnalled on a bracket 2 for rotation by a belt 3. The pulley I has two cam discs 4 and 5 xed on the shaft of the pulley I orotherwise mounted so as to rotate therewith. A lever I0 pivoted intermediate its ends at Il carries at .one end a roller 'I which is held in engagement with the edge of the cam 5 by a spring I2 which is attached to the lever lil at 8 and to the bracket 2 at 9. The other end of the lever is slotted at I3 and engages a stud I4 on a slide bar I5 which is mounted on the base It of the apparatus by means of studs Il, Il' and I1" engaging in slots 20, 20' and 20" respectively in the bar I5. The bar i5 is normally urged towards the left in Fig. 1 by the pull of the spring l2 on the lever IG. A spring 2| fixed to the base I6 at 22 and to the bar I5 at 23 is provided to assist the action of the spring I2. The base I5 has a guide table 46 to receive and support the strip 43 of metal or plastic material. The bar I5 has two upturned parts I5' and I5" to each of which is secured a reciprocatable member 24 and 24" respectively. Each reciprocatable member is so shaped as to allow passage for the strip 43. Similarly shaped, but stationary, members 24a' and 24a" are fixed to the base I6 by screws 25' and 25" respectively. Each of the members 24', 24", 24a' and 24a" carries two levers 25', 26", 26a' and 25a" respectively (see also Figs. 2 and 7), one of the levers being illustrated in side view in Fig. 3. The levers are pvoted at 2l', 21, 21a' and 27a" respectively so that they form obtuse angles y with the direction of movement ofr the strip 43 which direction is indicated by arrows. The levers bear resiliently against the upper surface of the strip 43 by means of springs 28', 28", 28a' and 23a" fixed to studs 48', 48", 48a', 48a" at 29', 29, 29a and 29a" respectively.

vThe lever ends bearing against the strip 43 are shaped as more clearly shown in Fig. 3. The parts and 63" of the guide table 46 are connected by screws 6I' and 6I" to` the upturned parts I5 and I5" respectively so as to reciprocate together with the bar I5 and the reciprocating members 24' and 24".

Mounted in a suitable guide 49 on the bracket 2 are a punch 30 and a positioning rod 36 fixed thereto by screws 62. The punch 3i] carries a roller 6 at its upper end `which'is held in engagement with the edge of the cam 4 by means Vof both the members 24 and 24 of a spring 3| attached to the punch 3D at 32 and to the guide 49 at 33. Y

The operation of the arrangement is as follows: The pulley l is rotated in a clock-Wise direction as indicated in Fig. 1 so as similarly to rotate the cams 4 and 5. Under control of the Ycam 5 and the action of the springs I2 and 2l, the lever I0 is actuated to move the slide bar I5 towards the left. During this movementV the levers 25 and 25" slide along the upper surface, andthe'parts Gil and 60 along the lower surface of the strip 43 which is assumed to be already in the position illustrated in Fig. 1. However, displacement of the strip 43 towards the left is prevented by the levers 26a and 23a. lof the stationary members 24a and 24a. owing to friction between the end of the levers 26a' and 26a bearing against the upper surface of the strip 43 under pressure exerted by the springs 28a and 23a. VAfter this movement has taken place the lever I is returned under the control of the cam 5 thus moving the reciprocatable members 24' and 24" and the re'ciprocat'able parts 6G and 6G to the right. movement the strip 43 is moved to the right by friction between the upper surface of the strip 43 and the ends of the levers 23 and 26 bearing against this surface under the action of the springs 28 and 28 and by friction between ther lower surface of the strip 43 and the upper surfaces of the reciprocatable parts Gil and Bil" against which the strip is pressed by the levers 26' and 26 respectively.

It will be appreciated that when the leadingv end of the strip is inserted between the reciprocatable member 24 and the Vpart 60 the feed of theV strip commences, Ythe strip being advanced intermittently by the action of the member 24 and the part 60'. When the leading end of the strip reaches the reciprocatable member 24 and the part 60 the strip is advanced by the action and both the parts `60 and E0, as described hereinbefore. When the rear end of the strip has cleared the mem-ber 24 and the part 5B the feed of the strip is continued by the member 24 and the part 60 until the rear end of the strip leaves the member 24 and the part '60. Thus the provision of the two feeding devices (24a, 24 60' and 24a, 24 and 60"), one on either side of the punch 3i), enables the entire length of the strip to be fed through the apparatus.

The timing of the cams 4 and 5 is such that between successive feeding movements ofthe feeding Idevices under the control of the cam 5, the punch 30 and the positioning rod 36 are operated and retracted under control of the cam 4. The punch 30 and positioning rod 36 are moved bodily downwards, their arrangement being such that the positioning'rod 36, which is somewhat longer than the punch 30, engages in a hole previously punched, in the immediate vicinity of the punch while the cutting edge 34 of the punch punches a hole into theY strip. The purpose of the rod 3B isto position accurately the strip immediately in the vicinity of the punch'so as to ensure that the punch operates at its correct place on the strip. Y Y

The guide table '46 is provided with a die 5| and a suitable recess to accommodate the downward travel ofthe punch 3B during the actual punching movement and the end of the position- During this ing rod respectively. After the punching has been completed the punch 3l) is raised under con- 75 punch and positioning rod are disengaged from Y the strip, the strip is ready to be advanced again preparatory to the punching of the next hole.

Many modiiications of the embodiment just Y described are possible without departing from the invention. For example, instead of equipping the punch with a single cutting edge and arranging for the feed to Yadvance Ythe strip a distance equal to the distance between two adjacent punch holes at a time, the punchmay be equipped with Ya plurality of cutting edges, and the feed adapted to advance the strip a corresponding number of punch holes at a time. In this case, the holes would be punched successively in groups instead of individually as in the former case. Again, instead of arranging for the feed and co-acting punch and positioning device to be actuated once per revolution of the drivingrpulley of the apparatus, theY cams controlling the actuation of these parts may be contoured so that these parts are actuated a number oi times, say twiceper revolution of the driving pulley. Y

A modified feeding device is'illustrated in Fig.v 6 in which only the reciprocatable members and parts and their actuating means are shown, while the stationary members (corresponding to the members 24a and 24a of Fig. 1), the punch, the positioning rod and the like have been omitted.

In Fig. 6, a disc 10 is journalled on a bracket 14'. The disc 1li is rotatable together with the cam (not shown) for actuating the punch and positioning rod, and is provided with a slot 1| for attaching eccentrically a connecting` rod 12 by means of a nut 13. The connecting rod 12 is pivotally connected at 14 to one arm 13 of a bell-crank lever 15 pivoted at 16. A roller 11 is nxed to an upright 19 which is mounted on a reciprocatableY part of the guide table for the strip of material. The reciprocatable members 8l and 82 are fixed to the reciprocatable part 8l). Each member is so shaped as to allow passage for the strip of material between the member and part 8U, and carries a pair of levers, the construction, arrangement and function of which are similar to the corresponding levers described hereinbefore Vwith reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Fixed to the reciprocatable member 8| is a stud 83 to which one end of Ya spring 84 is attached, the other end of the spring being attached to the frame of the apparatus at 85. The spring 84 urges the reciprocatable member 8| and therewith the part 8D, the upright 19, the roller 11 and the reciprocatable member 82 to the right, thus causing the roller Y11 to bear lagainst the bar 15. Y Y

In operation, rotation of the disc 10 causes the rod 12 to move up and downY as indicated by the vertical arrows I. Thereby, the lever arm 15 is caused toY move in a horizontal direction as indicated by the horizontal arrows II.4 When the arm 15`moves to the left it pushes the roller 11, and therewith the reciprocatable part 80 and members 8| and 82, to the left. When the arm 15 moves to the right the reciprocatable part 80 and members 8| and 82 are moved to the right under the action of the spring 84. During each ,complete cycle of movement the strip of material is advanced by one step similarly as explained hereinbefore with reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

The nut 'E3 allows the rod 12 to be fixed more or less excentrically with, respect to the disc 10. It will easily be seen that when the nut 13 is shifted towards one end o'f the slot 1| the vertical movement of the rod 'l2 and thereby the horizontal movement of the arm 15 are increased, thus increasing the length by which the strip of material is advanced during each step. Thus, the

apparatus which effects correct feeding and punching of strips of plastic or metallic material, as is particularly required in the manufacture of sliding clasp fasteners, with greater speed and precision than was for this purpose obtainable hitherto by reason of the automaticity, continuity and regularity afforded by the apparatus.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for punching a strip of material at equidistant places along its longitudinal direction comprising: a driving shaft, a device for feeding the strip of material, a punch, a cutting edge on said punch for punching holes into the strip of material, a positioning device arranged to engage and position with respect to said cutting edge a previously punched hole in the vicinity of said cutting edge, a rst actuating member for actuating said feeding device intermittently to advance the strip a predetermined distance, a second actuating member for actuating said punch and said positioning device in timed relationship to the feeding movements of said feeding device so as to render said punch and said positioning device operable in the intervals between successive feeding movements, and cams mounted on said driving shaft for actuating said two actuating members.`

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim l, said cams being contoured to provide for one feeding movement and one punching o-peration per revolution of the cams.

3. Apparatus for punching a strip of material at equidistant `places along its longitudinal direction comprising: a driving shaft, a devicel for feeding the strip of material, a punch, a cutting edge on said punch for punching holes into the strip of material, a positioning device arranged to engage and position with respect to said cutting edge a previously punched hole in the vicinity of said cutting edge, a rst actuating member for actuating said feeding device intermittently toy advance the strip a predetermined distance, a second actuating member for actuating said punch and said positioning device in timed relationship to the feeding movements of salid feeding device so as to render said punch and said positioning device operable in the intervals between successive feedin'g movements, said first actuating member including a rod attached excentrically to said/driving shaft, and means mounted on said driving shaft for actuating said second actuating member.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, comprising means for adjusting the amount of excentricity of said rod.

5. A feeding device for advancing a strip of material in a step by step manner comprising: a member reciprocatab'le in the direction of movement of the strip, and a stationary member, each of said members carrying two levers, the levers of each member being arranged at either side of the longitudinal centre line of the strip, each lever being arranged and adapted to bear resiliently against a surface of the strip, the line connecting the pivot of each lever to the lever point that bears against the strip forming an obtuse angle with the forward direction of movement of the strip whereby, in operation, the reciprocatable member during each forward stroke advances the strip of material by one Step owing t0 the frictionv between the strip and ithe levers of the reciproicatable member, while during each rearward stroke the levers of the reoiprocatable member slide over the strip, rearward movement of the strip being prevented by friction between the strip and the levers of said stationary member.

BELA MEITNER. 

